CVE-2022-37428: PowerDNS Recursor up to and including 4.5.9, 4.6.2 and 4.7.1, when protobuf logging is enabled, has Improper Cleanup upon a Thrown Exception
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.4% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 73% of all records.
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- Fixed version: pdns-recursor (Debian:12) 4.7.2-1; pdns-recursor (openSUSE:Leap 15.4) 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1; pdns-recursor (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 4.7.2-1.1.
Low priority for now. Upgrade to pdns-recursor (Debian:12) 4.7.2-1; pdns-recursor (openSUSE:Leap 15.4) 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1; pdns-recursor (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 4.7.2-1.1 or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
PowerDNS Recursor up to and including 4.5.9, 4.6.2 and 4.7.1, when protobuf logging is enabled, has Improper Cleanup upon a Thrown Exception, leading to a denial of service (daemon crash) via a DNS query that leads to an answer with specific properties.
- Published
- Aug 23, 2022
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 1.4% · 73th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-459
Report tools
Action score
26
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 1.4%
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 6.5
- CNA · mitre
- 6.5
- agree
CVSS:3.1/AC:L/AV:N/A:H/C:N/I:N/PR:L/S:U/UI:N
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| powerdns | recursor | cpe:2.3:a:powerdns:recursor |
| fedoraproject | fedora | cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- fedoraproject fedora36
- powerdns recursor4.5.0 and later · before 4.5.10
- powerdns recursor4.6.0 and later · before 4.6.3
- powerdns recursor4.7.0 and later · before 4.7.2
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | pdns-recursor | before 4.7.2-1 | 4.7.2-1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.4 | pdns-recursor | before 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1 | 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1 |
| openSUSE:Tumbleweed | pdns-recursor | before 4.7.2-1.1 | 4.7.2-1.1 |
| SUSE:Package Hub 15 SP4 | pdns-recursor | before 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1 | 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1 |
Same product
powerdns: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2018-16855An issue has been found in PowerDNS Recursor before version 4.1.8 where a remote attacker sending a DNS query can trigger an out-of-bounds m48Plan
- CVE-2017-15120An issue has been found in the parsing of authoritative answers in PowerDNS Recursor before 4.0.8, leading to a NULL pointer dereference whe45Plan
- CVE-2009-4009Buffer overflow in PowerDNS Recursor before 3.1.7.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) or possibly execute 45Plan
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2020-14196Jul 1, 2020 · In PowerDNS Recursor versions up to and including 4.3.1, 4.2.2 and 4.1.16, the ACL restricting access to the internal web server is not prop22Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2020-25829Oct 16, 2020 · An issue has been found in PowerDNS Recursor before 4.1.18, 4.2.x before 4.2.5, and 4.3.x before 4.3.5.32Monitor
- Later →CVE-2023-22617Jan 21, 2023 · A remote attacker might be able to cause infinite recursion in PowerDNS Recursor 4.8.0 via a DNS query that retrieves DS records for a misco32Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| debian:pdns-recursor | 4.7.2-1 · Debian:12 | Package registry (OSV) |
| opensuse:pdns-recursor | 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.4 | Package registry (OSV) |
| suse:pdns-recursor | 4.6.3-bp154.2.3.1 · SUSE:Package Hub 15 SP4 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- none
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- None
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-459 · Incomplete CleanupCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Show all references (2 more)Show less
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.